Indonesia's president has signed a decree giving the government the power to ban radical organisations, in a move aimed at outlawing groups behind an apparent rise in the political clout of hardline Islam.

The court in conservative Aceh province said the men, aged 20 and 23, would each be subjected to 85 lashes for having sexual relations.

Indonesian officials have dropped a plan to require female students to pass virginity tests in order to graduate from high school and apologised after sparking a public outcry, human rights campaigners said.